Millbrook power station is a 299MW open-cycle gas-fired power station planned to be developed in the Rookery South Pit near Stewartby, within the Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) of England, UK.
The £90m ($118m) project will be developed and operated by Millbrook Power Limited (MPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of British electrical power generation company Drax Group. Millbrook Power was acquired by Drax Group from Watt Power in 2016.
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The 299MW Millbrook power station will operate as a rapid-response power station to meet the peak electricity demand in the region. Environmental permit for the project was granted in January 2019, followed by the issue of development consent order (DCO) in March 2019.
Construction of the power station is anticipated to be started in 2020, with commissioning scheduled for 2022.
The Millbrook power station is estimated to produce enough electricity to power up to 150,000 households during its 25 years of life. The project development is expected to create 150 jobs during the construction phase.
Millbrook power station location and site details
The Millbrook gas-fired power plant will be developed on 20 acres within the Rookery South Pit, a 90-acres-site used for clay extraction for the Stewartby Brickworks until 2008.
A 60MW waste-to-power facility named Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) is also planned to be jointly developed by Covanta and Veolia in the Rookery South Pit.
The project site can be accessed by C94 Bedford Road and Marston Vale Rail line, which is located approximately 70km from the Green Lane.
Millbrook power station details
The Millbrook power station will be equipped with an industrial type open-cycle gas turbine of 299MW rated capacity. The exhaust gas flue stack of the plant will rise up to 35m-high.
The simple-cycle gas-fired power plant will be designed as a peaking plant capable of running up to a maximum of 2,250 hours a year. It will be designed to go from cold to full load in just less than 20 minutes, allowing for frequent and fast start-ups and flexible operation.
Gas supply
The natural gas for the Millbrook power station will be sourced through a new 1.8km-long underground gas pipeline connecting the Feeder 9 high-pressure gas transmission pipeline of the UK’s National Transmission System.
The underground gas pipeline will originate at an above-ground installation (AGI) at its south-eastern end and continue in the north-western direction to cross the Millbrook road, before terminating at the plant site.
Transmission details
The electricity generated by the Millbrook power plant will be fed into the existing 400kV Sundon-Grendon double-circuit line of the National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), through a 320m-long underground transmission line.
The project also involves the construction of a new 400kV air-insulated substation to the south-west of the plant site.
Infrastructure facilities
The Millbrook power station will be accessed through a new road connecting the Green Lane near Stewartby.
The supporting infrastructure facilities for the project will include a fire water tank, demineralized process water tank, an electrical transformer compound, a natural gas receiving station, and an emergency diesel-fired generator.
Contractors
Peter Brett Associates led the environmental assessment of the project in 2017, while Stag Energy provides management services for the project.
